Earthquake near Mansfield has shaken buildings across Melbourne, with some reports of damage – follow updates live
Dr Januka Attanayake, the research lead with the University of Melbourne’s Earthquake Seismology Earth Sciences unit, said preliminary estimates had the earthquake as a magnitude 5.8 to 6.0.
“If these preliminary estimates are correct, it is probably the largest earthquake we have felt around Melbourne in the last 175 to 200 years,” Attanayake said. “If it’s a magnitude 6.0, it’s the first in hundreds of years. This is the first earthquake of this magnitude I have seen here during my lifetime, and it has probably not been seen during the lifetime of several generations.”
Reporter Donna Lu is outside Betty’s Burgers on Chapel Street in the Melbourne suburb of Windsor, where the top half of the wall from the second story fell down during the quake.
She spoke to local resident Josh Sinclair, who described the sound of the brickwork coming down like “a train going past”.
Betty’s Burgers on Chapel St before crews arrived on scene this morning, taken by Windsor resident Josh Sinclair #earthquake @GuardianAus pic.twitter.com/if1IS2uHoz
